This invention is directed to a mooring device for passing a mooring line around a post, pole or cable, for example, for holding the boat in position in a canal lock while the boat is being raised or lowered. The invention is also directed to a mooring hook that is extendible, and which has a cable adjusting mechanism within it so that the mooring hook can be actuated at any selected length.
Devices for passing a line or rope around a post or for attaching a line to a mooring ring or eye can be useful in navigation, especially for boats navigating canals. Generally, canal locks have mooring posts at intervals within the locks, and the boats tie up to these when being raised or lowered. The posts are located in recesses on the walls of the locks, and are attached at top and bottom. The usual procedure is to lean out over the side of the boat and pass the line around the post by hand. This is a difficult procedure, and can be dangerous if there is any wind. Lock design is not all that standardized, and many locks have cables instead of posts, and a few simply have ropes hanging from the tops of the lock walls. The mooring hook device has to be able to accommodate any of these. Because the distance to reach the mooring post can depend on the size of the boat and the position within the lock, the pole portion of the unit should be extendible. The mooring hook should accommodate different size boats, or different distances to the posts fore and aft, without the deckhand having to lean dangerously over the rail. Because it is sometimes necessary to reach down below the gunwale to attach the mooring line, the operator should be able to articulate the business end of the device, relative to the pole portion, to a suitable angle. However, these features are not available on any available mooring hook, boat hook, or similar device.
There have been attempted solutions to this problem, and a few of these are found in various patents.
Wemyss U.S. Pat. No. 3,813,122 describes a device for attaching a mooring line in which a shuttle, to which the line is tied, is carried on a two-armed fork, and is pivotable on each arm of the fork. The shuttle swings down from one side to get around a post, pylon, or eye, and then swings the other way on the other side to let the line be withdrawn back to the boat. In this case, the shuttle is a large cumbersome member, and expensive to replace if broken or if dropped into the water. Also, this device is difficult to use in a canal lock environment if there is a tight space behind the mooring post. The device can be used only with rigid mooring posts or the like, as the shuttle has to be driven into the mooring post in order to swing the shuttle on the fork.
Wingate U.S. Pat. No. 2,730,985 another device with a shuttle that is pulled off a hook portion to pass a line around an object. Again, as in the Wemyss arrangement, the shuttle is rather large, and the available space has to accommodate it, and has to be thrust against the mooring device to operate it.
Another arrangement is shown in Held et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,318, and employs a latch gate with a parrot hook to pass a loop of hitching line around an object.